Sharife Cooper facts for kids
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Cooper in High School
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| No. 2 – JDA Dijon | |
|---|---|
| Point guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | June 11, 2001 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| High school | McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Listed weight | 176 lb (80 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Auburn (2020–2021) |
| NBA Draft | 2021 / Round: 2 / Pick: 48th overall |
| Selected by the Atlanta Hawks | |
| Pro career | 2021–present |
| League | Pro A |
| Career history | |
| 2021–2022 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2021–2022 | →College Park Skyhawks |
| 2022–2024 | Cleveland Charge |
| 2024 | Liaoning Flying Leopards |
| 2024 | Merkezefendi |
| 2024–2025 | Aris Thessaloniki |
| 2025–present | JDA Dijon |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Sharife Omar Cooper (born June 11, 2001) is an American professional basketball player. He plays for JDA Dijon in France. Before becoming a pro, he played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers.
Contents
High School Basketball Journey
Sharife Cooper started playing high school basketball in 2016 for McEachern High School in Georgia. In his first year, he scored about 16 points and made 4.4 assists per game. His team had a great record of 29 wins and only 1 loss.
Big Wins and Awards
In December 2017, Sharife got a lot of attention for scoring 42 points in a game. He even made the shot that won the game at the last second in overtime!
During his junior year (2018–19), Sharife led McEachern to an amazing perfect season with 32 wins and no losses. They won their first state championship ever! In that championship game, he scored 20 points and made four assists. His team was ranked number one nationally by three different polls.
After this fantastic season, Sharife won many awards. He was named USA Today All-USA Player of the Year and MaxPreps National Player of the Year. He also received the Mr. Georgia Basketball award and Georgia's Gatorade Player of the Year. In 2020, he was chosen to play in the 2020 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, which is a big honor for high school players. On May 6, 2021, his high school jersey number 2 was retired at McEachern. This showed he was the most successful male basketball player in the school's history.
Choosing a College Team
Many colleges wanted Sharife to play for them because he was considered one of the best young players. On September 27, 2019, he decided to play college basketball for Auburn University. He was the highest-ranked player to ever commit to Auburn's basketball program.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharife Cooper PG |
Powder Springs, GA | McEachern (GA) | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 27, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 |
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 22 247Sports: 27 ESPN: 20 | ||||||
Sources: |
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College Basketball Time
Sharife Cooper missed the first 12 games of his freshman year at Auburn. This was because the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was checking his eligibility to play.
On January 9, 2021, he finally played his first game for Auburn. He scored 26 points, made nine assists, and grabbed four rebounds. Four days later, he had an even better game, scoring 28 points and making 12 assists. As a freshman, he averaged 20.2 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game. He was named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team. On April 2, 2021, Sharife decided to leave college early to enter the 2021 NBA draft.
Professional Basketball Career
Starting with the Atlanta Hawks (2021–2022)
The Atlanta Hawks picked Sharife Cooper in the second round of the 2021 NBA draft. He was the 48th player chosen overall. On August 5, 2021, he signed a special "two-way contract" with the Hawks. This meant he would play for both the Hawks and their minor league team, the College Park Skyhawks, in the NBA G League.
Sharife played for the Hawks in the 2021 NBA Summer League. In his first game, he scored 11 points and made 6 assists. He made his official NBA debut in the Hawks' first game of the season against the Dallas Mavericks.
He joined the Hawks' 2022 NBA Summer League team again. On July 22, 2022, he signed another two-way deal with the Hawks, but he was waived just three days later.
Playing for the Cleveland Charge (2022–2024)
On September 20, 2022, Sharife signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they waived him in October. He then joined the Cleveland Charge, which is the Cavaliers' G League team. Sharife was chosen to play in the G League's first-ever Next Up Game during the 2022–23 season.
In July 2023, he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers again in the 2023 NBA Summer League. He re-signed with the Cavaliers on September 13, 2023. However, he was waived again in October and then re-signed with the Cleveland Charge. On February 26, 2024, Sharife signed a 10-day contract with the Cavaliers, but he did not play in any games. He returned to the Charge on March 7.
Playing in China and Europe (2024–Present)
On April 1, 2024, Sharife Cooper signed with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in China. He helped his team win the 2024 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) championship! In the final game, he scored 22 points, made nine assists, and grabbed six rebounds coming off the bench.
After playing in China, Sharife moved to Turkey. On September 28, 2024, he signed with Yukatel Merkezefendi Belediyesi in the Turkish Basketball Super League.
Then, on November 21, 2024, he moved to Greece to play for Aris for the rest of the season. As of April 9, 2025, Sharife Cooper signed with the French team JDA Dijon.
Career Statistics
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA Games
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Atlanta | 13 | 0 | 3.0 | .214 | .167 | – | .4 | .4 | .0 | .0 | .5 |
| Career | 13 | 0 | 3.0 | .214 | .167 | – | .4 | .4 | .0 | .0 | .5 | |
CBA Games (China)
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | Liaoning Flying Leopards | 7 | 0 | 13.6 | .467 | .400 | .731 | 2.3 | 3.3 | .3 | .1 | 11.6 |
College Games
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | Auburn | 12 | 12 | 33.1 | .391 | .228 | .825 | 4.3 | 8.1 | 1.0 | .3 | 20.2 |
About Sharife's Family
Sharife Cooper was born in Newark, New Jersey. When he was about six years old, his family moved to the Atlanta area. He has two sisters, Te'a and Mia. Both of his sisters also won state basketball championships at McEachern High School. Te'a went on to play college basketball at several universities and was drafted into the WNBA in 2020. Sharife also has a twin brother named Omar.
See also
In Spanish: Sharife Cooper para niños
